On the Wine Route
If you are a wine lover, you certainly want to know it better, discover the nuances, distinguish the specificity of the varieties.
We present you with an interesting opportunity to walk the Wine Route – a path to knowledge and enjoyment.
The initiative is of Zornitza Family Estate Relais & Châteaux in the face of the sommelier of the Estate Alexander Skorchev – an expert with over 20 years of experience in the wine industry. As a sommelier, he has worked with big names like Michel Roux and Gordon Ramsay. He holds Court of Master Sommeliers certificates. At Zornitza Family Estate, in addition to his direct responsibilities as sommelier, there are others related to the wine that is produced at the Estate, mostly in terms of blends and the overall vision.
Since 2015, Alexander Skorchev has been a licensed teacher for the largest and most influential wine and spirits academy in the world – WSET. He is part of the team that in 2016 founded the Bulgarian Wine Academy (WSAB), a licensed representative of WSET. As of November 2024, he has also been a licensed teacher at the official Kava Academy.
Now Alexander Skorchev and the young oenologist Nadezhda Dobrevska will take everyone on a walk in the world of wine – on different routes to share their knowledge and skills.
This program is for you if you want to gain a primary knowledge of wine or expand your wine culture. You choose how far to go and how many of the modules and blocks to join.
In addition to the lecture part on a classroom basis, you will also immerse yourself in the vineyards, walk with Alexander Skorchev through the wineries in the region and in Northern Greece. Some of the modules are an hour long, others a full day.
The first block includes a walk in the vineyards of Zornitza with Nadezhda Dobrevska and an introduction to the cultivated varieties. Block two provides a tasting of three or five of the estate's wines, and block three takes you along the Melnik Wine Route. There are three options here: tasting of 5 wines from the region, tasting of 5 wines from one winery – Orbelus, Villa Melnik, Orbelia, Aya Estate or Kapatovo, or tasting in 2 or 4 wineries with a sommelier for one or two consecutive days, tasting 4 selected wines in each winery.
Block four will take you to the wonderful wineries of Gerovassiliou and Oenops, as well as the outstanding wine museum in Gerovassiliou. The training programme includes a one-day course with two possible modules: Wine Basics and Basic Wine Regions and Styles. More details can be found on the Zornitza Family Estate Relais & Châteaux website and social media.
Nadezhda Dobrevska is 23 years old. In 2024, she graduated from the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv. During her studies, she did an internship in two grape-picking campaigns in Villa Melnik, fell in love with the region and has been working as a technologist at Zornitza Family Estate Relais & Châteaux for a few months. "Winemaking is not just a job, you have to approach it with love, passion and care", says Nadia.
Her work at Zornitza is dynamic and interesting. During the colder months, they do various treatments of the wines, bottling, and analysis. Her favourite time of year is at harvest time. Then her daily routine involves tracking and controlling the entire production process until the grape juice becomes wine.
"The world of wine is extremely interesting and magical. Wine can tell stories – about the land it comes from and the people who create it. It changes with time, it is alive and awakens the senses"", believes Nadezhda Dobrevska.
The young lady already does wine tastings at the Estate. The opportunity she gets at Zornitza is unique – to learn from the best and explore a whole universe: from producing their own wines to discovering the global world of wine and its icons.
